<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>a king's crown is golden not silver by trouserhouser</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23327140">a king's crown is golden not silver</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/trouserhouser/pseuds/trouserhouser'>trouserhouser</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Formula 1 RPF</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>17th Century, AU, Daniel is king, M/M, Max is a servant, Slow Burn</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-03-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-03-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 05:41:19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,303</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23327140</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/trouserhouser/pseuds/trouserhouser</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>-some ages are more beneficial than others-</p>
<p>Life in the castle would be difficult if dining was only a glimpse of hell.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Daniel Ricciardo/Max Verstappen</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>23</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>a king's crown is golden not silver</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>A whole scenario in a different century, because I love this genre and I hope you like it too.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>
    <strong>some ages are more beneficial than others</strong>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>
    <strong>year 1642</strong>
  </em>
</p>
<p>It all started when he made hay for the cattle. Colonel Button, accompanied by his daring assistant, called him over. Max left everything behind; when a senior came it was either a curse or a blessing. He stood in front of him with shaky knees, remembered his deep steel grey eyes, the cold par excellence, and tried desperately to spit out a few words. In a quick-witted voice Button spoke two sentences with him, every further word would have been an imposition for him, Max thought. Most senior officials were prohibited from speaking to subjects unless they were to carry out an order. The assistant, he had grey-blonde hair and seemed too old for his job, threw a bag of clothes at Max’s feet. Despite his sick, pale skin, his expression was full of negative energy. Max imagined, how this man would have loved to see him beheaded. The whole encountering lasted no longer than two minutes and so he was alone in the cattle shed again, the fragrant hay behind him and with a completely new perspective: he was allowed to serve the king.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Only two days ago he mucked out stables and slept on prickly straw. Now he was a servant – a great honour. Not everyone was so lucky, poverty covered up the villages, there wasn’t even half a loaf of bread for a day’s work, and hygiene was a disaster. The king was merciless, anything but predictable and although Max got put under constant pressure for two days now, he was happy to be at the castle courtyard. He always worked for himself, couldn’t trust anyone else and his family had died a long time ago.</p>
<p>Max saw the king as little as before: namely never. The boy Mick, who worked with him for a long time in the stables, told him a few facts about the king in the past: he mostly worn a red-black robe and silver jewellery. He loathed the precious metal gold, couldn’t stand deer meat and his favourite horse was named Miritos. His parents died early so he were able to choose his future wife on his own. Max learned many secrets from Mick, but he had died of a fever a few weeks ago. He couldn’t shed a tear for this boy, he opened himself too little to the people here and stayed most of the time quiet.</p>
<p>Max was astonished at first about the generous clothing, since he didn’t become a higher ambassador, but only served the king. He thought that subjects in the castle had to walk around as impoverished as the people outside in the courtyard. Did the king want a nicer atmosphere here in the castle and therefore allowed the subjects this clothing? A few more thoughts and Max realized what the light pants were all about: one speck of dust on these and he were exposed to the moods of the king.</p>
<p>How could he manage to keep these pants clean? Max quickly realized that he was not the only one with angsty thoughts. He had the feeling that all the servants didn’t have an incredible number of tasks, but everyone wanted to perform their duties to 120% perfectly. He concluded that he had underestimated how strict and brutal the king was. With a stomachache, he went into the chamber, which he had to share with seven other servants.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The next morning the stomach pain hadn’t passed, but, tormented by it, he had to set a table for twenty-one people. Max placed the silver goblet next to the porcelain, the fork next to the knife and the serviette underneath. He didn’t have to look twice where the king was sitting. He increased his pace after being asked to do so. Suddenly there was a loud squeak and he looked forward, startled. The large gate had been opened by two servants and a man with a powerful aura came in, not clothed in a red coat, but a red turtleneck with a lighter, noble, matt jacket. He wore black leather shoes and beige trousers – the king. Max had never seen such a style of clothing before. He only felt concerned by the knowledge that he was in the same room as him. His heart was racing like it had never before and he winced as a deep grumble came out of the king’s throat. Max’s head dropped and he instinctively shrugged his shoulders, even though he could imagine, that this wasn’t something the king wanted to see.</p>
<p>“Why wasn’t this brat introduced to me?” His firm voice trembled across the room, causing all the wall fibres to shiver. The king came closer and closer to Max, who was still holding two plates in his hands and stared at the floor. “With such horrific insecurity you dare to walk through my castle?” The boy glanced with his pupils in his direction. “Stand up straight for god’s sake!” His voice thundered into his ear. Out of shock, the lower plate slipped out of his hand. The broken glass shattered loudly onto the floor and Max felt as if the whole castle had stopped breathing. Everything was silent, only the echo of the shards of misfortune laid in the dining room.</p>
<p>That was it. He expected a loud scream, but the king’s mouth remained closed. His hand reached for the plate in Max’s hand, who released it immediately. The veined hands put it in the right place.</p>
<p>“Shouldn’t have happened. Claire, new plate!” His voice burned into his ear again, like a blazing fire, leaving black soot. “Will you all sit down please? You come here.” The king’s tone suddenly became very calm and he pointed to the right seat next to his chair. Max was confused. Was this a test of whether he was disrespectful? To sit so close to the king? All of a sudden, the other subjects tumbled in and sat down at the king’s large table. Max no longer hesitated but sat down on the soft cushion to avoid uncertainty. “Your name?”, the king whispered but that everyone could hear it anyway.</p>
<p>“Max, Max Verstappen, your highness.” He murmured cautiously. Even though he had just given his name, the king still didn’t use it.</p>
<p>“You know, I prefer dining with country bumpkins than with stuffy, slimy heads.” Max nodded sheepishly and looked silently at his plate again, but the king didn’t want to let go of his intense look. However, he didn’t dare to complain, subjects had no right to tell a highness what to do. After a few minutes the view became uncomfortable. His eyes were like two knives piercing him. Even after the main meal, his eyes kept spitting over at him. The king certainly felt Max’s insecurity, he thought, and would imagine how ridiculous he might look if he got confronted with it. When the dessert was served (it was strange to be served by like-minded people) he wanted to take the raspberry sauce, which was standing twenty centimetres in front of his nose. Max held out his hand to grab it when suddenly a severe pain twitched through his cheek, which made it throb wildly. It clapped loudly so that all eyes were fixed on him.</p>
<p>“You have absolutely no manners!”, shouted his voice. The king then didn’t give him a single glance, Max gave up the dessert entirely and left the dining room after cleaning up. <em>Life in the castle would be difficult if dining was only a glimpse of hell. </em></p>
<p>“You have to study the whims of the king. He wanted the sauce just like you. You must wait until you can be utterly sure that he is not interested in the things you’d like to eat. It is difficult to estimate. The seats in front of King Daniel are very unpopular by the way.” Max witnessed the old lady, folding the laundry together. Her voice was soothing, maybe the softest thing he would experience in the castle. She put her hand under his chin and glanced at his face. “Your cheek is turning completely blue! He used much force, didn’t he? But you were lucky again, another man got fired for the same reason five days ago.”</p>
<p>“He was forced to go back to the village?” Max was shocked. He didn’t want to imagine the fate of others down in town. It must be terrible.</p>
<p>“I don’t think he made it.” The old lady smiled at Max and folded a white cloth. “I have never seen a prouder creature than the king. He is an incredibly attractive man.” Max nodded quietly. She is right, he thought. Even if he was terrible and brutal, he exuded a very special aura. “Once he brought a beautiful girl with him. She had wavy brown hair and was always dressed in green. It is very rare that he would bring a woman to his room, because he is so picky.” The lady put the freshly folded cloth in the grey basket.</p>
<p>“What happened to the girl?” She looked calmly at him and put her hands on his shoulders.</p>
<p>“Oh, you don’t believe how she suffered. She made the mistake, wearing a golden ring. He quickly threw her out of his bedchamber. It all seemed very forced, so I don’t think he wanted her near him, but hush!” If the king doesn’t want a wife by his side, what will become of the succession, Max questioned. Who will take over the kingdom? Why can he be brushed off by a piece of golden metal?</p>
<p>“Did he have many?” The old woman hissed, and Max felt a little intimidated by her outraged expression.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>With newly acquired knowledge he walked through the large hall.</p>
<p>“Max!” The boy whirled around and looked into his master’s greedy eyes.</p>
<p>“King Daniel!” He quickly bowed.</p>
<p>“Saddle my horse for me. In two minutes, I have to go.” He left a confused Max standing in the empty hallway. Did he mix up his tasks? He wasn’t a stable hand anymore!</p>
<p> </p>
<p>A few minutes later the shimmering black horse was saddled, Max waiting for his master in the entrance, fingers tensed around the reins. The king hurried through the gate and took the beautiful animal from him. A groom appeared behind Max, holding the reins of a brown horse. King Daniel got on his horse and glanced at him from above.</p>
<p>“Don’t ask questions and get on your horse. You are my companion as long as everybody else has work to do.” Dazed by his words, Max climbed into the leather saddle. He didn’t dare to disagree. His heart pumped up to his neck, giving the feeling as if it was trying to smash his head. They rode silently across the wheat fields. “I don’t like this, come and tell me something.”, he rode by Max’s side. “But please don’t ask about the village.”, he added. His eyes went dead serious and Max got goose bumps from his coolness that he had to brush over his arms.</p>
<p>Max only got one question.</p>
<p>“How do I have to behave?” The king frowned and looked at Max’s blue cheek, which released a dull pain now and then. The other watched his hand in horror.</p>
<p>“I prefer modesty from my subjects at the dining table. I want everything that has to do with fruits at first. That is the only rule.” Max watched him with astonishment as he gestured with his beautiful, large hands. He wanted to cu a slice of his self-confidence and charm. The brown eyes, which were as dark as the bark of a cherry tree, his black curls, which also seemed to be subjects, because they behaved so well. Each strand was where it should be. His attractiveness stood out above his appearance. King Daniels voice was firm but not too throaty. It didn’t sound strident to Max. Even when he sang, like right now, he whistled the melody of the kingdom’s hymn, which consisted of three basses and several high notes. King Daniel had a musical streak, Max noticed. It wouldn’t be the last time he would sing, he thought. The people in the villages probably had a strong charming king in mind (which he was indeed!), but he brought out his soft side with his high notes.</p>
<p>“You sing very beautifully, your highness.” The king kept humming until he answered shortly after.</p>
<p>“No one has ever said that to me.” Max didn’t expect a ‘thank you’, but he was surprised by the fact that he had never received a compliment on his singing skills. It felt like King Daniel was frozen for a moment. He seemed to be stuck in his own thoughts.</p>
<p>“I like that you say that. Singing is the balance for my stressful work, you know. Art works best in nature. The spirit unfolds and feels freer than between the walls. “</p>
<p>“It’s amazing how you come to these insights.” King Daniel put a hand on his chest and sighed deeply.</p>
<p>“What was your name again?” Max told him. Why would he even tell him all this stuff? He couldn’t imagine that the king would have such a conversation with a simple man like him. “You aren’t very talkative, are you?” Max felt caught and strange. The king ordered him to talk before and Max didn’t put much effort in doing so. Did he disappoint him? Maybe he should have tried harder.</p>
<p>“I apologize to your highborn.” The king waved it off.</p>
<p>“I am not forcing you to talk. You are more likely a listener, huh?” Max tightened his reins.</p>
<p>“I am careful with my words.” King Daniel nodded and spurred his horse on. Max followed him close behind. “The place…where is it where we are going?” The king smiled slightly.</p>
<p>“In the east. We should be there soon, Max.” A shiver went down his spine, when he pronounced the three letters. He glared at him and Max felt his piercing eyes all over him. “I am not good with names.”</p>
<p>“Your honour, do not force yourself, my name is unimportant.”</p>
<p>“You are wrong. Since you will accompany me from now on, I want to remember your name.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>From now on, no more knives stabbed him when King Daniel watched him. He no longer had the feeling that his body were being sliced open by his glistering eyes. Rather, a pleasant feeling came over him, which promised a touch of security. He only opened his mouth when he had to, and he rethought his words at least five times. The king was unpredictable, but he opened up his soul with every trail ride. Max enjoyed the hours outside the courtyard. He nearly thought about the king as a friend not only his master.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>One day he woke up drenched in sweat. He had vomited three times last night, which made him wake up with an empty stomach this morning. George, a servant with which he shared his chamber, noticed his wet forehead and got two towels, which were soaked in cold water.</p>
<p>“It is best to take off your shirt.”, he spoke in a calm but terribly concerned voice. As Max did so, his roommate stared at his chest startled and hesitated to put the towel on his forehead. Finally, Max took it in his own hands to cool himself off. His whole body was blazing. His inside seemed to burst and took all the heat to his skin surface. Max could no longer imagine what life was like without this awful fever. He slowly lowered his head, followed George’s eyes and noticed the red skin rashes. He stroked over his arms and saw many dots there too. George backed away from him when he tried to reach for the second towel, which was already dripping all over the wooden floor. Max shouted his name with a wheezy sound. George shook his head briefly and then escaped out the door. Everyone else was probably already at work. Max longed for water because he was terribly thirsty. His stomach felt like a single hole, but he was too sick too eat anything. Not like he didn’t wait eagerly for someone to care for him, but the door didn’t move until sunset.</p>
<p>It was only when night rest started that his roommates began to walk in. A blonde, thin woman, he still didn’t know her name, put down a plate of bread and a jug of water. Max tried to thank her, but there was only a choked sound coming out his throat. He didn’t even manage to bite the bread without having the urge to throw up. Max heard nagging voices outside the door. They surely complained about sleeping in a room with me, he thought. But he could understand it, he felt like a monster. His whole skin had large, red circles and small pus blisters formed on his stomach. The towel on his forehead was at least as hot as his glowing skin. Nobody seemed to help him. The voices outside grew louder, somebody was shouting ‘fever’ until he heard the thundering sounds of the king. Max winced as the voice banged the door.</p>
<p>“You will all go back into your room right now!”</p>
<p>“Your highness, we will all get infected!”</p>
<p>“From a subject’s fever?” His degrading voice pierced in Max’s heart. He sounded so differently on their trail rides, softer and more <em>caring</em>. Somebody opened the door and for the first time, Max could watch them.</p>
<p>“Please, let us sleep somewhere else!”, the blonde’s voice pleaded. She fell on her knees theatrically and folded her hands. Another woman started to cry and scream at her disintegrated behaviour. King Daniel’s scowl scanned the room and stuck on me. The shock was written on his face. With this state of health, it was no wonder, that Max reached a point where breathing was more than difficult.</p>
<p>“Max, God be with you.” The king disappeared. A short time later the door was being locked from the outside. Complete chaos broke out. A boy desperately tried to find a way out of the window, but the walls were too high to jump. The two women were still crying bitterly, and Max’s sensations increased due to the fever. Every word sounded like a scream in a large, wide field, an echo. He just wished to turn around in his bed and sleep, but the heat in his body made it impossible. He tortured himself for several hours until the door was unlocked. The king and a man in a grey coat, packed with a brown leather suitcase, came in. Visits from a doctor had to be followed by the king himself in order to be aware of the health conditions in his castle. The man stopped in front of him several steps away and looked at Max’s miserable face. The latter gasped in his bed with a still increasing fever. The doctor turned to the king and whispered something, Max didn’t understand.</p>
<p>King Daniel gave the order to call a priest and walked to the bed. Numbed, Max put all his effort into breathing and gesturing that he should keep his distance from him. The king didn’t respond and even leaned down to Max. The latter noticed that the king’s palm was way too red to be considered normal. He tried to make a comment on it, but only hot air left his throat and a sting in his trachea remained. Max was almost choking. King Daniel’s hand touched his cheek and sent pure admiration through Max’s bones. His friend blurred in front of him, he silently tried to fight his body, but the light went out.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>With his hand holding his master’, he finally lost consciousness.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>
    <strong>we lived in the wrong time</strong>
  </em>
</p>
  </div></div>
</body>
</html>